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You are viewing a single post made by rosebudestates in the thread called Quick question: what is the best food / fertilizer to promote flowering?.
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Jun 3, 2024 11:21 AM CST
Name: Anne
Aroostook County, AMine (Zone 4b)
I'm late to the party, but I think it will be helpful to provide more background, so you understand how to choose the right fertilizer and are not limited to specific brand names. Plant fertilizers supply the macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). The TLDR is that N is for shoots, P is for roots, K is for flowers/fruits. Fertilizer labels report these in that order, so 3-5-3 is 3% N, 5% P, and 3% K. When plants get a lot of N in relation to the other macronutrients, they will produce a lot of succulent green growth, but may not produce flowers/fruit. Bloodmeal provides N only, so OP, you really overdid it! In general, levels as high as 10% of any nutrient are not a good idea because you can actually burn the plants with too much quickly available fertilizer, and promoting over-rapid growth actually makes plants more susceptible to disease and insects. Bulbtone is perfect for peonies because the 3-5-3 formulation provides lots of P for good root development and enough K for good flower development, with the N low enough to avoid too much shoot growth. Any fertilizer that provides this balance of macronutrients at about these levels is good. I use liquid fish emulsion 2-3-1 for plants in the ground.

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